Statutes AICA Japan

 

Article I   Aims and activities

1. The name of the Japan Section of the International Association of Art Critics (Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art; hereafter AICA) is Bijutsu Hyоronka Renmei. Established on May 15, 1954, the Japan Section is organized under the terms of the present Statutes, in accordance with the Statutes and Regulations of its parent body AICA, an international, nongovernmental Association (NGO) recognized by UNESCO, with its Office in Paris.

2. As a Section of the International Association, the Japan Section has Statutes, which closely reflect those of the parent organization. These must be kept up-to-date with those of AICA International and formally approved by AICA’s General Assembly.

3. The Japan Section brings together art critics, whose professional activity is criticism in all media, teaching, or curating exhibitions. Its function is to promote the understanding and critical interpretation of visual arts, in all their histories and manifestations. Its members are primarily, but not exclusively, concerned with the modern and contemporary visual arts of all cultures.

4. The aims of the Japan Section of AICA are:
a) to promote art criticism as a discipline and contribute to its methodology
b) to promote the ethical and professional interests of its members and defend their rights
c) to maintain an active national and international network for its members, with the aid of digital and face-to-face encounters
d) to contribute to mutual understanding of visual arts and aesthetics in all cultures
e) to stimulate professional relationships across political, geographical, ethnic, economic, religious, gender and other boundaries
f) to defend and promote freedom of expression and thought.

5. The Association may organize relevant events and activities for members and others.

6. AICA Japan is a nonprofit association.

7. The duration of the Section is unlimited.

8.The business year of the Section shall be from January 1 to December 31.

 

Article II   Membership

1. The Section is made up of Individual Members and, when appropriate, Honorary Members and Honorary Presidents. An AICA member from another Section who has been professionally active in Japan for at least one year may apply to join AICA Japan.

2. Applicants for membership must be able to provide evidence of sustained activity over at least the previous three years, in one or more of the following areas:
a) daily/periodical press, or broadcasting on radio, TV or video, or in the electronic media
b) publication of works of art history, aesthetics or criticism
c) teaching of art criticism, art history, aesthetics, curating, or art, at higher or tertiary level
d) curatorial work and analysis for educational or scholarly ends, including the production of scholarly or critical texts for museums or galleries, whose principal aim is not commercial.

3. An applicant for AICA Japan membership shall complete and deliver to the Board not less than forty-two days before the Annual or the Extraordinary General Meeting:
– a completed AICA International biographical form
– a separate more detailed curriculum vitae; and evidence of activity as defined in Article II:2, above, including online or print copies of a selection of texts by the applicant.

The AICA International biographical form shall be completed in English. Applicants must provide two or more names of active Japan Section members as references.

4. Members of AICA Japan will be elected by a secret vote, requiring a simple majority of the members voting, in person, at an Annual or an Extraordinary General Meeting. Upon election to AICA Japan the President shall confirm the candidatures and submit the newly elected members’ AICA International biographical forms to the AICA International Office. Membership in AICA International will be ratified at the discretion of the General Assembly of AICA International.

5. Honorary Members and Honorary Presidents are elected by secret vote of two-thirds majority of those voting members present at an Annual or an Extraordinary General Meeting. The international membership fees of Honorary Members and Honorary Presidents are paid by the Section.

6. An AICA International Membership card is issued to a Member immediately after their election to AICA International.

7. Membership is forfeited:
a) by resignation. Those who wish to resign must notify the Board by the end of November in order to have their resignation take effect by the end of that year.
b) by nonpayment of the membership fee for two years.
c) by expulsion by a General Assembly of AICA International, if so recommended by the Board, on grounds of serious misconduct.

 

Article III   General Meeting

1. The General Meeting is the supreme policy-making and legislative body of AICA Japan. It is summoned by the President and presided over by the Chair.

2. The members of the Section will be summoned to an Annual General Meeting (AGM).

3. The General Meeting shall be held in person, online, or in a hybrid format.

4. Any matter put to a vote at the General Meeting shall be decided by a simple majority unless otherwise prescribed.

5. Minutes shall be kept of each Annual and Extraordinary General Meeting, signed by the chair.

6. Notice of any AGM, the Agenda, Board Report, or external Auditors’ Report shall be sent to each member not less than twenty-eight days before the date of the meeting.

7. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be held at the request of the President, of the majority of the Board, or of ten percent of the members. Notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting and the Agenda shall be sent to each member not less than ten days before the date of the meeting.

8. The following business may be transacted and approved at the AGM or when applicable by the Extraordinary General Meeting:
・new Chair and Secretary-General,
・list of apologies and those attending
・agenda of the meeting,
・minutes of the last meeting,
・ annual reports of the Board and the external Auditors,
・ new Board members,
・ new members,
・ Honorary Members and Honorary Presidents,
・ external Auditors,
・ the following calendar year’s membership fee,
・ other matters that the Board may wish to submit to the meeting,
・ motions submitted by members.

9. Votes in the General Meeting are decided by those paid-up members who are present and eligible to vote by a show of hands, unless secret votes are prescribed, or if a member present requests a secret vote.

10. In the event that votes given by show of hands at the Annual or the Extraordinary General Meeting are equal, the chair of the meeting shall cast a deciding vote. In the event that votes given in writing are equal, the question shall be decided by lot.

 

Article IV   Board

1. The Japan Section is headed by a Board, which comprises the President, a Secretary General, a Deputy Secretary-General, two external Auditors, and 20 members including a Chair and a Deputy Chair.

2. The President shall represent the Japan Section and attend the Board meetings concurrently as a Board member. If the President is unable to act, the Chair shall act on behalf of the President. The President shall be elected from among the members at the Annual General Assembly. Candidates nominated by the members, including self-nominations, shall be elected by secret vote of all members via postal mail, an online telecommunication platform, or some combination of the two, and approval shall be obtained at the AGM. The term of office of the President shall be three years per term, with possible re-election for a maximum of two consecutive terms.

3. The Chair shall convene the Board meetings and shall preside over the affairs of the Section. The Chair shall be recommended by the Board and approved by the AGM.

4. The Deputy Chair shall assist the Chair and shall act for the Chair in the event that the Chair is unable to act. The Deputy Chair shall be appointed by the Chair and shall be approved by the Board.

5. The Board members shall be responsible for the affairs of the Section. The term of office of a Board member is two years, with possible re-election for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The Board members shall be elected by secret vote via postal mail, an online telecommunication platform, or some combination of the two from all members as preliminary part of the AGM.

6. The Chair of the Board may appoint a commissioned Board member with the approval of the Board. The commissioned Board member does not have a voting right.

7. The Secretary-General shall be responsible for the general affairs and accounting of the Section and shall promote the business of the Section. The Deputy Secretary-General shall assist the Secretary General and, in the absence or disability of the Secretary-General, shall act for the Secretary-General in their duties. The Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary General shall be nominated by the President and shall be approved at the AGM.

8. Minutes shall be taken of Board meetings, authorized by the Chair, distributed to all the Board members and approved at the next Board meeting. The minutes shall be archived.

9. The President must play an active part in the life of the Section and ensure its smooth operation. The President sends an Annual Report of the Section to the AICA International Office.

10. The President of the Section is ex officio a member of AICA International’s Board with voting rights. In the event that the President cannot attend a meeting of the Board they may nominate another member of the Section to attend as proxy to vote on behalf of the Section. The President shall send in advance the AICA International Proxy form, with apologies, to the AICA International Office.

11. In the event of a Member of the Board resigning during their mandate, the President may call for candidates from the list of the runners-up of the previous election to replace the Member who stepped down. The mandate of the by-election shall last until the next AGM and shall not be included in the total number of years in office, see Article IV.5.

12. AICA Japan shall make public statements with the consent of at least two-thirds of its Board members.

 

Article V   Resources

1. The resources of the Section are made up of:
a) the Membership dues,
b) all legally authorized resources,
c) all subsidies which the Section is entitled to receive.

 

Article VI   Statutes

1. The Board and any member may propose modifications to the National Statutes. All such proposals must be forwarded, in writing, to all paid-up members of the Section at least thirty days prior to the AGM at which they are to be discussed and voted upon. All modifications to the Statutes proposed in this way must be approved by a two-thirds majority of those voting members who are present at the meeting.

2. All modifications to the Section’s Statutes decided by the AGM must be approved by AICA International’s General Assembly on the recommendation of the International Electoral and Membership Committee and Board.

 

Article VII   Dissolution

1. If three-quarters of the members present at an Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting of the Section vote in favor of a motion to dissolve the Section, this may be considered at the next Annual General Meeting provided that a copy of the motion is sent to each member not less than thirty days before the date of the meeting at which it will be considered. In the event that three-quarters of those voting members present at the second meeting approve the motion, the Board may proceed to dissolve the Section.

2. In case of dissolution, the assets of the Section will be distributed, in accordance with the law, to an organization whose aims are allied to, or compatible with, those of AICA.

Effective January 1, 2023